Method for forming a scrambled egg snack food

ABSTRACT

A snack food product having a shaped core of a coherent mass of scrambled eggs enrobed in a breaded batter coating.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/621,518 filed Jul. 18, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,660, which itself claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Nos. 60/396,556 filed Jul. 18, 2002 and 60/406,320 filed Aug. 28, 2002.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a scrambled egg snack food.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Eggs are highly nutritious and have been prepared in many ways, with various spices and sauces to further enhance their natural appealing taste, aroma and appearance.

A search of the prior art with respect to the subject matter hereof has resulted in location of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,650,766, 4,469,708, 6,165,522, 6,261,611, 6,261,625 and 6,326,039.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a scrambled egg snack food and procedure for making the same. The snack food is a convenient egg product that can be prepared for consumption by frying, baking or microwave. The product consists of a core of scrambled egg, which may be formulated with a variety of particulates to provide specific tastes, enrobed with a coating of batter and breading. Particulates which may be formulated with the scrambled egg include cheese, bacon, onion, ham and vegetables.

In accordance With one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a snack food product comprising a shaped core of a coherent mass of scrambled egg and an outer batter coating, preferably also breaded.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a snack food product, which comprises:

partially scrambling eggs,

mixing at least one food grade binder with the partially scrambled eggs,

fully cooking the scrambled eggs,

shaping the fully cooked scrambled eggs, and

battering and preferably breading the shaped scrambled eggs.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As indicated above, the present invention provides a novel snack food which has a core of scrambled eggs. The core may be produced from liquid egg. Normally, whole eggs have about 60% white and about 40% yolk. In providing the novel snack food of the invention, a weight ratio of about 100:1 to about 1:100 albumen:yolk, reduces the cholesterol and fat level of the novel snack food product. For convenience, the present invention is described with reference to whole egg which generally comprises about 70 to about 80 wt % of the core.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the egg may contain added omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, as fully described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/094,962 filed Mar. 12, 2002 (WO 02/080703), assigned to the assignee hereof and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, the egg may naturally contain omega-3 fatty acids as a result of using special feeds to hens laying the eggs. The egg may contain about 100 to about 1500 mg of omega-3 fatty acid per 100 g of egg, preferably about 500 to about 1000 mg of omega-3 fatty acid. The omega-3 fatty acid may be provided by fish oil, emulsified in the liquid egg, although other sources of omega-3 fatty acids may be used.

The core is given sufficient structural integrity to permit battering and breading by the addition of at least one food grade binder. Such food grade binder may be liquid albumen or gelatin, preferably both. Generally, the weight ratio of food grade binder to egg is about 0.05:1 to about 0.15:1, preferably about 0.08:1 to about 0.1:1. The liquid albumen is generally used in an amount of about 6 to about 7 wt % of the core while the gelatin is generally used in an amount of about 0.5 to about 1 wt %.

The core may include seasonings, such as salt and pepper. When present, the weight ratio of the seasonings to egg is generally about 0.01:1 to about 0.03:1, preferably about 0.015:1 to about 0.025:1. When used, salt is generally present in an amount of about 0.5 to about 1.5 wt % and pepper is an amount of about 0.05 to about 0.1 wt %.

Other ingredients may be included to assist in preparation of scrambled eggs from the liquid whole egg. Such production assistance ingredients may include edible oil, such as canola oil, water, citric acid, xanthan gum, skim milk powder and modified starch. Citric acid may be added to stabilize the colour of the egg core. Gum and starch may be added to assist in moisture control during freezing and thawing.

The weight ratio of such production assistance ingredients to egg generally is about 0.1:1 to about 0.3:1, preferably about 0.13:1 to about 0.27:1. When present, such ingredients may be present in the weight percentages set forth in the following Table I:

TABLE I Ingredients wt % of core Edible Oil about 0.5 to about 1 Water about 5 to about 15 Citric Acid about 0.01 to about 0.1 Xanthan Gum about 0.2 to about 0.3 Skim Milk Power about 2.5 to about 3 Modified Starch about 1 to about 2

As mentioned above, other particulates may be formulated with the egg core to impart specific flavours to the product. The amount of such other particulates present depends on the nature of the particulates used. One such additive is cheese particulates, which may be present in an amount of about 7 to about 13 wt % of the core. Other such additives include meat pieces, such as bacon, ham and sausage pieces, which may be present in an amount of about 1 to about 3 wt % of the core, for a nugget. In a patty, the amount of meat pieces may vary up to about 25 wt %.

Formulations of ingredients of the core which may be used include those set forth in the following Tables II, III and IV:

TABLE II Ingredient wt % Whole Egg about 70 to about 80 Oil about 0.56 to about 1 Water about 5 to about 15 Salt about 1 to about 2 Citric Acid about 0.05 to about 0.10 Xanthan Gum about 0.2 to about 0.3 Skim Milk Powder about 2.5 to about 3.0 Modified Starch about 1 to about 1.5 Pepper Oleoresin about 0.05 to about 0.10 Liquid Albumen about 6 to about 7 Gelatin about 0.5 to about 1

TABLE III Ingredient wt % Whole Egg about 70 to about 80 Oil about 0.56 to about 1 Water about 5 to about 15 Salt about 1 to about 2 Citric Acid about 0.01 to about 0.09 Xanthan Gum about 0.2 to about 0.3 Skim Milk Powder about 2.5 to about 3.0 Modified Starch about 1 to about 2 Pepper Oleoresin about 0.01 to about 0.05 Cheese Particulates about 7 to about 13 Liquid Albumen about 6 to about 7 Gelatin about 0.5 to about 1

TABLE IV Ingredient wt % Whole Egg about 70 to about 80 Oil about 0.56 to about 1 Water about 5 to about 15 Salt about 1 to about 2 Citric Acid about 0.01 to about 0.09 Xanthan Gum about 0.2 to about 0.3 Skim Milk Powder about 2.5 to about 3.0 Modified Starch about 1 to about 2 Pepper Oleoresin about 0.01 to about 0.05 Bacon Pieces about 1 to about 3 Liquid Albumen about 6 to about 7 Gelatin about 0.5 to about 1

The core is enrobed with a coating of batter and breading. A predust may be applied to the scrambled egg core prior to battering and breading. Any batter conventionally used to batter food products may be used. Such batters generally contain flours of different sources, modified food starch, hydrophilic colloids and water as well as various spices, seasonings and colourings. Similarly, breading may be effected using any bread crumbs conventionally used to bread food products.

In general, the weight ratio of breading and batter to egg core is about 0.2:1 to about 0.4:1, preferably 0.25:1 to about 0.35:1. The components may be used in the amounts set forth in the following Table V:

TABLE V Ingredient wt % Egg Core about 65 to about 75 Predust about 1 to about 3 Batter and Water about 15 to about 20 Breading about 6 to about 8 Frying oil about 3 to about 5

In producing the product of the invention, whole eggs, which may be admixed with seasonings and other additives, are initially partially scrambled, at least one food grade binder for the scrambled eggs is added and thoroughly mixed with the scrambled eggs, and then the eggs are fully scrambled. In carrying out this procedure, seasonings and other ingredients as described above are thoroughly mixed into blended liquid whole egg, preferably at a cool temperature of about 5° to about 10° C., before cooling to refrigeration temperature (4° C. and below).

To cook the stock base so formed, the stock base may be heated, such as in a skillet, to a temperature of about 50° to about 80° C., preferably about 60° to about 70° C., taking about 20 to about 50 minutes, preferably 30 to about 40 minutes, to form a partially scrambled egg product which is wet, moist and paste-like or curd-like. The temperature/time profile which is employed generally is selected to provide a moisture content of about 30 to about 35 wt %.

This time-temperature profile may vary, depending on the mode of heating and manner of processing. For example, a different time-temperature profile may apply in an in-line processing procedure using steam infusion or steam jacketing.

It has been found that the size of the curds in the partially-scrambled egg is important in providing the desired texture and firmness in the final product. If the curds are too small, then a coherent product is not obtained but rather falls apart. If the curds are too large, then a solid means of egg is obtained.

Generally, the curd size is controlled to be within the range of about 1 to about 8 mm, preferably about 2 to about 5 mm and more preferably about 3 to 4 mm. Control the curd size is achieved by the choice of mixer and paddle design in combination with a selected temperature/time heating profile. It has further been found that it is preferred to provide a size distribution in the curds with about 60 to about 70 wt % of the curds being within the size range of 2 to 6 mm, with about 40 to about 45% of the curds sized from about 4 to about 6 mm and about 20 to about 25% of curds sized from about 2 to about 4 mm.

The stock base may be pre-tempered to a temperature of about 5° to about 20° C., preferably about 10° to about 15° C., taking about 60 to about 200 minutes, preferably about 90 to about 180 minutes, since such pre-tempering has been found to provide improved temperature distribution during cooking and setting of starches and gums present for viscosity control.

The food grade binder(s) are added to the partially cooked eggs and evenly distributed therein. The resulting mixture then is heated to a higher temperature of about 60° to about 85° C., preferably about 70° to about 80° C., taking about 3 to about 20 minutes, preferably 7 to about 15 minutes, until the cooked eggs appear to be dry and have a pleasant yellow colour. The fully cooked eggs, which generally have a moisture content of about 25 to about 45%, preferably about 30 to about 40 wt %, then are cooled to refrigeration temperatures.

The cooked eggs may be mixed to break up any lumps which may have formed during the cooking step. When flavouring particulates are to be added, they may be added at a convenient step of the cooking procedure, depending on the nature of the material added. For example, bacon pieces may be added to the partially scrambled eggs and distributed therein prior to addition of the food grade binder. If cheese particulates are used, they conveniently are added to cooled cooked eggs.

The mixture then may be provided in the desired shape. This step may be effected by forming the product using a suitable forming device. Alternatively, the mixture then may be extruded, using any desired extruder, in any desired cross-sectional shape and size followed by cutting into the desired longitudinal length. The egg generally is shaped in a cooled condition, generally about 0° to about 18° C., preferably about 0° to about 10° C.

The shaped product may then be battered and breaded. Alternatively, the shaped product may be frozen for later battering and breading. The extruded product may be seasoned prior to battering and breading.

Alternatively, the cooked product may be formed into the desired shape by any other convenient procedure than extrusion, such as by using any convenient forming device.

The shaping of the cooked product may be effected by extrusion into an edible or inedible casing to provide additional structural integrity to the extruded mass, particularly when a food grade binder is not employed, until frozen. Where an inedible casing is used, this casing is removed when the extruded mass has been frozen. Where an edible casing is used, this may remain in contact with the extruded mass. Alternatively, the extrusion operation may be carried out without a casing when a food grade binder is employed.

The ratio of coating to scrambled egg filling is variable depending on the shape of the product. In providing the breaded coating, the frozen egg products, which may be in the form of fingers or nuggets of various cross-sectional shapes, are coated with a predust, after an initial moistening or tempering of the surface. The egg products then are dipped into prepared batter and transferred to a breading operation. The battered products are completely coated with breading. The final product then is frozen for packaging. Alternatively, the product may be par-fried, for example for 30 seconds at 200° C., prior to freezing.

The novel scrambled egg product provided herein may be in the form of cylindrical fingers about 1.8 to 2.5 cm in diameter and about 5 cm long, although other dimensions and shapes may be used, as discussed above. For example, the product may be in the form of a nugget shape. Such nuggets may have a length of about 50 to about 58 mm, preferably about 53 to about 56 mm, a width of about 25 to about 35 mm, preferably about 27 to about 32 mm and a thickness of about 9 to about 12 mm, preferably about 10 to about 11 mm. The products have a long frozen shelf life of about 6 to 12 months.

The frozen egg products may be reheated for consumption by frying, oven heating or by microwave. In a flying procedure, frying oil may be preheated to about 180° C. and the frozen fingers or nuggets placed in the preheated oil and fried for 4 minutes or until golden brown. The cooked egg fingers or nuggets are drained and served. In an oven cooking procedure, the oven may be preheated to 190° C., the frozen egg fingers or nuggets placed on a tray and baked for 20 minutes. The baked egg fingers or nuggets are then served. In a microwave procedure, the egg products may be reheated for 30 seconds on HIGH in a 1000 W microwave.

The reheated egg fingers or nuggets have a medium egg flavour inside and a toasted flavour from the coating. The reheated egg fingers or nuggets have a crispy outer coating and a soft moist core with small egg pieces. The egg fingers or nuggets have a pale tan colour which can be formulated to turn golden brown with cooking. The interior of the reheated egg fingers or nuggets is a pale yellow colour with visible egg pieces.

The novel egg product of the invention, therefore, is a convenient, egg snack food product that can be reheated through frying, baking or microwave for consumption. In addition to the scrambled egg product being provided in the form of a nugget of desired cross-sectional shape, the scrambled egg product may be provided in any desired shape, such as oval and egg shapes and in the form of large patties.

EXAMPLES Example 1

This Example illustrates one embodiment of egg product provided in accordance with the invention.

Egg nuggets (fingers) were prepared comprising approximately 70 wt % egg filling and approximately 30 wt % coating. The formulations of the egg core and the nuggets are set forth in the following Tables VI and VII:

TABLE VI Ingredient wt % Whole Egg 76.28 Canola Oil 0.92 Water 9.19 Salt 1.5 Citric Acid 0.05 Xanthan Gum 0.28 Skim Milk Powder 2.76 Modified Starch 1.38 Pepper Oleoresin 0.09 Liquid Albumen 6.86 Gelatin 0.69 Total 100.00

TABLE VII Product Ingredient wt % Egg Core 70 Predust 1.2 Batter + Water 17.2 Breading 7.4 Par-fry Oil Pickup 4.2

Whole eggs were blended with a dry mix of citric acid, salt, skim milk powder and xanthan gum at about 5° to 6° C. followed by the addition of modified starch, oil, water and pepper. The mixture was agitated for about 10 minutes and cooled immediately to below 4° C. to provide a stock base.

The stock base was pre-tempered to 10° to 15° C. in about 180 minutes to permit improved temperature distribution during cooking and setting of starch and gums. The pre-tempered stock base then was heated in a cooker to 68° C. At 68° C., the partly scrambled egg is wet, moist and paste-like. When this condition is reached in about 30 to 40 minutes cooking time, liquid albumen, pre-tempered at 10° to 15° C., containing gelatin was added evenly onto the scrambled egg and mixed therewith.

The cooker temperature was then adjusted to 105° C. and the eggs cooked for another 7 minutes or until the eggs looked dry and had a pleasant yellow colour to provide a scrambled egg product having a temperature of about 75° C.

The cooked scrambled eggs were cooled to below 4° C. for extrusion. The cooled scrambled eggs at 10° C. were extruded using a Vemag extruder and the extruded mass cut into pieces to provide egg pieces sized 1.9 cm×3.8 cm. The extruded cores were frozen to a temperature of about −25° C.

Egg cores were tempered at about 20° C. until the surface temperature of the cores reached about 0° C. Egg cores were then transferred to a breading line conveyor. Cores were first coated with a predust at a rate of about 1 wt %. Dusted egg cores were then immersed in a batter held at a temperature of about 6.5° C. Immediately after applying the batter, the cores were coated with breading. The total pickup of the batter and breading was at a rate of about 22 wt %. Once breaded, egg cores were par-fried for 30 seconds at 200° C., frozen and then packaged.

Example 2

This Example illustrates another embodiment of egg product produced in accordance with the invention.

The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that cheese particulates were blended into the cooked scrambled egg prior to extrusion, using a dough mixer, tumbling gently.

The formulation of the egg core is set forth in the following Table VIII:

TABLE VIII Egg Core Ingredient wt % Whole Egg 72.48 Canola Oil 0.88 Water 8.76 Salt 0.79 Citric Acid 0.02 Xanthan Gum 0.27 Skim Milk Powder 2.62 Modified Starch 1.32 Pepper Oleoresin 0.01 Cheese Particulate 5.67 Liquid Albumen 6.53 Gelatin 0.65 Total 100.00

The formulation of the nuggets was the same as in Example 1.

Example 3

This Example illustrates another embodiment of egg product produced in accordance with the invention.

The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that bacon pieces were added to the partially scrambled egg prior to adding the liquid albumen and gelatin.

The formulation of the egg core as set forth in the following Table IX:

TABLE IX Egg Core Ingredient wt % Whole Egg 75.16 Canola Oil 0.92 Water 9.18 Salt 0.76 Citric Acid 0.02 Xanthan Gum 0.28 Skim Milk Powder 2.75 Modified Starch 1.38 Pepper Oleoresin 0.01 Bacon Pieces 2.06 Liquid Albumen 6.80 Gelatin 0.68 Total 100.00

The formulation of the nuggets was the same as in Example 1.

Example 4

This Example illustrates another embodiment of egg product produced in accordance with the invention.

Egg nuggets were prepared comprising approximately 70 wt % egg filling and approximately 30 wt % coating. The formulations of the egg core and the nuggets are set forth in the following Tables X and XI:

TABLE X Ingredient wt % Whole Egg 76.28 Canola Oil 0.92 Water 9.19 Salt 1.5 Citric Acid 0.05 Xanthan Gum 0.28 Skim Milk Power 2.76 Modified Starch 1.38 Pepper Oleoresin 0.09 Liquid Albumen 6.86 Gelatin 0.69 Total 100.00

TABLE XI Ingredient wt % Egg Core 70 Predust 1.2 Batter and Water 17.2 Breading 2.4 Par-fry oil pickup 4.2

Whole eggs were blended with a dry mix of citric acid, salt, skim milk powder and xanthan gum at about 5 to 6° C. followed by addition of modified starch, oil, water and pepper. The mixture was agitated for about 10 minutes and cooled immediately to below 4° C. to provide a stock base.

The stock base was pretempered to 10° to 15° C. in about 180 minutes to permit improved temperature distribution during cooking and setting of starch and gums. The pretempered stock base then was heated in a cooker to 68° C. At 68° C., the partially scrambled egg is wet, moist and paste-like or curd like. The curds had a mean size distribution of 26.6 mm and a moisture content of 35 wt %. When this condition was reached in about 30 to about 40 minutes cooking time, liquid albumen, pre-tempered to about 10 to 11° C. containing gelatin was added evenly to the partially scrambled egg and mixed therewith.

The cooker temperature was then adjusted to 105° C. and the eggs cooked for another 10 minutes or until the eggs cooked dry and had a pleasant yellow colour to provide a scrambled egg product having a temperature of about 75° C. and a mixture content of about 35 wt %.

The scrambled eggs were cooled to below 4° C. for forming. The cooled scrambled eggs were formed into a nugget shape using a Formax former, with the nuggets sized 53 mm length, 27 mm width and 10 mm thickness. The formed cores were frozen to a temperature of about −25° C.

Egg cores were tempered at about 20° C. until the surface temperature of the cores reached 0° C. Egg cores were then transferred to a breading line conveyer. Cores were first coated with a predust at a rate of about 1 to 2 wt %. Dusted egg cores were then immersed in a batter held at a temperature of about 5° C. Immediately after applying the batter, the cores were coated with breading. The total pickup of batter and breading was 30 wt %. Once breaded, egg cores were par-fried for 30 seconds at 200° C., frozen and then packaged.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In summary of this disclosure, the present invention provides a novel egg product comprising a scrambled egg filling and breaded coating. Modifications are possible within the scope of this invention. 

1. A method of forming a snack food product, which comprises: partially scrambling eggs to form a partially scrambled egg which is wet, moist and paste-like and having a curd size within the range of about 1 to about 8 mm, mixing at least one food grade binder with the partially scrambled eggs, fully cooking the scrambled eggs, shaping the fully-cooked scrambled eggs, and battering the shaped scrambled eggs.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein a stock base is formed by mixing seasonings and production assistance ingredients with a mass of liquid eggs.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the mixing is effected at a temperature of about 5° to about 10° C.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein the stock base is heated to a temperature of about 50° to about 80° C. taking about 20 to 50 minutes to form the partially scrambled egg.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the stock base is heated to a temperature of about 60° to about 70° C. taking about 30 to about 40 minutes.
 6. The method of claim 4 wherein the stock base is pretempered at a temperature of about 5° to about 20° C. taking about 60 to about 200 minutes prior to said heating step.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the stock base is pretempered at a temperature of about 10° to about 15° C. taking about 90 to about 180 minutes prior to said heating step.
 8. The method of claim 4 wherein, following mixing at least one food grade binder with the partially-scrambled egg, the partially scrambled egg is fully cooked by heating to a temperature of about 60° to about 85° C. taking about 3 to about 20 minutes until the cooked eggs are dry.
 9. The method of claim 5 wherein, following mixing the at least one food grade binder with the partially-scrambled egg, the partially-scrambled egg is fully cooked by heating to a temperature of about 70° to about 80° C. taking about 7 to about 15 minutes until the cooked eggs are dry.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said fully-cooked scrambled egg is shaped by extruding the fully-cooked scrambled egg in a desired cross-sectional shape followed by cutting the extruded scrambled egg into desired longitudinal lengths.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said extruding step is effected at a temperature of about 2° to about 18° C.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said temperature of about 5° to about 10° C.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein said fully-cooked scrambled egg is shaped by forming the fully-cooked scrambled egg into the desired shape
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the battered product is breaded.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the battered and breaded product is par-fried prior to freezing.
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the curd size is within the range of about 2 to about 5 mm.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the curd size is within the range of about 3 to 4 mm.
 18. The method of claim 1 wherein curds in said partially scrambled eggs have a size distribution with about 60 to about 70 wt % of the curds being within the size range of 2 to 6 mm, about 40 to about 45% of the curds being sized from about 4 to about 6 mm and about 20 to about 35% of the curds being sized from about 2 to about 4 mm. 